TRACTOR BEAM: THE WATER ISSUE is open. 🌊 Seeking speculative fiction about water, agriculture, migration, ecosystems, and anti-apocalyptic futures. 💰 $1,000/story 📚 Under 6,000 words preferred 📅 June 30, 2026 horrortree.com/taking-submi... From @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social #OpenCall #AmWriting

Every issue of Tractor Beam is an invitation: to seed visions that leave the page, take root in other minds, and come back as new thinking, new work, new worlds...

We missed World Bee Day by a few hours, but it's never too late to read "The Keeper of the Hive" by Jana Bianchi, from our Spring issue, Underground! 🐝🌏🌱👇

Christopher R. Muscato@chrisrmuscato.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The Keeper of the Hive by Jana Bianchi and @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social www.tractorbeam.earth/story/the-ke...

We want you(r soilpunk visions)! ✍️💭📚 Tractor Beam is now open for submissions. For our sixth issue, we’re looking for stories about the role of water in soil, growth, land, and ecosystems large and small. We pay $1,000 for all accepted stories. Learn more below👇 #opencall #scifi #climatefiction

"There is so much joy and imagination on display and the interjections of Tina Tona’s art throughout the tale is as much part of the story and adds a splash of literal colour amongst all the literary colour." A lovely review of "Soil Na Baba" by @staniforthmick.bsky.social! Read the full comic here:

Soil Na Baba! | Tractor Beam

Have you joined the movement?

tractorbeam.earth

Michael Staniforth@staniforthmick.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Day 120! I read Soil Na Baba! by Solape Adetutu Adeyemi with art by Tina Tona, published in @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social. Something gloriously different for the end of the month. Ecowarriors Assemble! Read my review here: mickstaniforth.wordpress.com/2026/04/30/s...

In case you missed it, the full pod episode with author @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social is now available to watch on Substack! Tune in to hear his thoughts on the current state of climate fiction, what animal he would choose to be in another life, and what his novel writing process really looks like.

Book Worms: Jeff VanderMeer on Writing Annihilation and Guest Editing for Tractor Beam

Author Jeff VanderMeer reads from his newest novel, Absolution, and reflects on the evolution of the Southern Reach series and the genre of climate fiction over the past decade

open.substack.com

Jeff VanderMeer@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I enjoyed talking to the folks at @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social today. The full discussion should be available next week. They were reading Annihilation for their book club.

A very special guest is joining us this week on Book Worms! 👀📚🦎✨ Tune in Thursday, April 9, at 12pm EDT for a live reading and conversation with Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social, author of the award-winning Southern Reach series and guest editor of Tractor Beam's Winter 2025 issue, Thaw.

This is your sign to ask your local bookstore to carry @tkrex.bsky.social's debut book, The Wildcraft Drones!! Pre-order link below 💙 #clifi #soilpunk #sciencefiction

The Wildcraft Drones

Check out The Wildcraft Drones - <p>Can machines rewild us?</p><p>An AI breakthrough connects a team of scientists with a wild dolphin, but progress is neck-and-neck with climate breakdown. Class diff...

bookshop.org

T. K. Rex@tkrex.bsky.social · 4mo ago

My latest newsletter, with shoutouts to @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social @stelliform.press @magicrobotcarnival.com @elijahkinchspector.com @shingai-be-like.bsky.social @bookshop.org @fabulistmag.bsky.social & @publisherswkly.bsky.social buttondown.com/tkrex/archiv...

It’s a new story by me

Tractor Beam@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 4mo ago

In "Like a Skeleton in Desert Sand" by @tkrex.bsky.social, Prima visits Mongolia decades after working on a paleontology museum. As she explores the new space, she reminisces on her past and makes an unexpected four-legged friend. 🦕🌿✨ Read the final story from Underground out now on Tractor Beam!

In "Like a Skeleton in Desert Sand" by @tkrex.bsky.social, Prima visits Mongolia decades after working on a paleontology museum. As she explores the new space, she reminisces on her past and makes an unexpected four-legged friend. 🦕🌿✨ Read the final story from Underground out now on Tractor Beam!

Like a Skeleton in Desert Sand | Tractor Beam

Who gets remembered, how?

tractorbeam.earth

In "Why Was Christ Ululating," a man finds purpose in a radical ecological movement often mistaken for a sex cult. When its leader, known as the Matriarch, is imprisoned, he spearheads a bold prison break that — like the movement itself — begins underground. Read the full story here:

Why Was Christ Ululating | Tractor Beam

Didn’t we tell them that soil is the Greatest of Matriarchs?

tractorbeam.earth

The premise resonates with Merlin Sheldrake's 'Entangled Life': mycelium doesn't just connect, it remembers. Slime molds (Physarum) solve mazes and optimize transport networks without a brain. What looks monstrous from one frame looks intelligent from another.

We've got a new comic from our Spring issue, Underground, to get you through your Thursday! 🐜🌵💥 In "Desert Story," a scientist tracks an ant population to understand changing climate patterns. Could the ants be trying to tell us something? Read the full story here:

Desert Story | Tractor Beam

What are the ants telling us about the climate?

tractorbeam.earth

Everybody go read this new story by @shingai-be-like.bsky.social

Tractor Beam@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 4mo ago

If you were programmed to be respectable, what would you do to break your code? In "Mycelium Memory Makes A Monster," Imani is imprisoned by a cop and finds an unlikely ally in the Once Girl Made of Mycelium, a vast, interconnected network of fungi. Read the full story out now on Tractor Beam! 🍄📖✨

I have a new story out! 🌱🔆 I gave a lot of what I'm feeling about this moment in time over to the story, and I'm excited for folks to check it out! If you're into Black queer baddies collaborating with the earth to destroy systems of power then you may like this one.

Tractor Beam@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 4mo ago

If you were programmed to be respectable, what would you do to break your code? In "Mycelium Memory Makes A Monster," Imani is imprisoned by a cop and finds an unlikely ally in the Once Girl Made of Mycelium, a vast, interconnected network of fungi. Read the full story out now on Tractor Beam! 🍄📖✨

If you were programmed to be respectable, what would you do to break your code? In "Mycelium Memory Makes A Monster," Imani is imprisoned by a cop and finds an unlikely ally in the Once Girl Made of Mycelium, a vast, interconnected network of fungi. Read the full story out now on Tractor Beam! 🍄📖✨

Mycelium Memory Makes a Monster | Tractor Beam

If you were programmed to be respectable, what would you do to break your code?

tractorbeam.earth

What does the soil remember when a country tries to forget? In "The Keeper of the Hive," Fernanda returns to her late grandparents’ farmstead outside Rio to recover from a breakup, uncovering records of Brazil's dark political past in the process. Read the full story, out now on Tractor Beam! 🐝🌱✨

The Keeper of the Hive | Tractor Beam

What does the soil remember when a country tries to forget?

tractorbeam.earth

Check out my latest short story, “Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself" beautifully illustrated by Sean Suchara, with insightful annotations from Fatima Asghar and Autumn Brown. Thanks, @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social team!

Tractor Beam@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Could your time-traveling bog boyfriend fight gentrification with peat moss? Find out in "Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself" by @cycling2asylum.bsky.social, available to read now on Tractor Beam! 🍎🌳🐛💜✨ #soilpunksunday #clifi #scifi #shortstory #tractorbeam

Could your time-traveling bog boyfriend fight gentrification with peat moss? Find out in "Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself" by @cycling2asylum.bsky.social, available to read now on Tractor Beam! 🍎🌳🐛💜✨ #soilpunksunday #clifi #scifi #shortstory #tractorbeam

Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself | Tractor Beam

Could your time-traveling bog boyfriend fight gentrification with peat moss?

tractorbeam.earth

A new type of hominid has been living beneath Kolkata's landfills, surviving, like the people above, on what the city throws away. When Lava is chosen to make first contact, what she finds underground is closer to kin than an alien species...

Those of Desecrated Places | Tractor Beam

Who is living in the landfill?

tractorbeam.earth

Our first comic from our Spring Issue is officially live! 🌱✨ In “No One Can Stop The Rain,” political cartoonist Ben Passmore @benpassmore.bsky.social retells Assata Shakur's celebrated poem, interpreted through the lens of contemporary policy. People protect their neighbors. Plants bloom.

No One Can Stop the Rain | Tractor Beam

Can you keep the grass from growing?

tractorbeam.earth

extremely psyched to share a ToC with @shingai-be-like.bsky.social theirs drops 4/1, mine drops 4/5

Tractor Beam@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Spring is here, and Tractor Beam has made its first full trip around the sun. 🌞🌱🪱 For our fifth issue, we're looking Underground—with help from our guest editor: poet, filmmaker, educator, and performer Fatimah Asghar! Read their guest editor letter here: www.tractorbeam.earth

In the short story “Reprise,” Tash, O, and Amrit live in micro-communities scattered across Europe after societal collapse. They keep each other—and the soil—alive. But they long for more: to host a party, to thrive. Read the full story from our Spring Issue, Underground, out now! 🥚🌱✨

Reprise | Tractor Beam

How do we mark time without celebration?

tractorbeam.earth

Heyyy soilpunks! 😎🪱📚🌱 We’re kicking off Underground launch week with an exclusive episode of Book Worms featuring author and curator, Celina Basra! Tune in tomorrow on Substack for a live reading and Q&A featuring her story, Reprise, from our new Spring issue. tractorbeamearth.substack.com

In “Unbecoming,” a fungal bloom sweeps the UK, transforming people’s bodies despite frantic attempts to eradicate it. Slowly, the mushrooms merge the entire population into a hyper-empathic collective consciousness. What happens when me becomes we? 🍄🤝🍄 Read the full story out now on Tractor Beam!

Unbecoming | Tractor Beam

What happens when me becomes we?

tractorbeam.earth

My short story, “Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself” will be coming out in a week, on March 29th. So thrilled and honoured to be working with this team!

Tractor Beam@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Spring is here, and Tractor Beam has made its first full trip around the sun. 🌞🌱🪱 For our fifth issue, we're looking Underground—with help from our guest editor: poet, filmmaker, educator, and performer Fatimah Asghar! Read their guest editor letter here: www.tractorbeam.earth

Spring is here, and Tractor Beam has made its first full trip around the sun. 🌞🌱🪱 For our fifth issue, we're looking Underground—with help from our guest editor: poet, filmmaker, educator, and performer Fatimah Asghar! Read their guest editor letter here: www.tractorbeam.earth

Tomorrow on Book Worms, we're joined by Illustrator, FIT instructor, and Tractor Beam Comics Editor Christina Lee 🍄🎨💚 She'll read comics from our past issues and answer any questions about how to submit to future issues! Subscribe here to tune in when we go live: tractorbeamearth.substack.com

So excited to be teaming up with Tractor Beam Issue 3 author @sarahkat.bsky.social for @writershq.bsky.social's Write A Short Story Festival in April. Sign up for our soilpunk workshop here: writershq.co.uk/whq-event/so... Full details coming soon! ✍️📖🌱✨

Writers’ HQ@writershq.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Fuck AI. Write an absolutely banging short story with your own glorious brain. The Writers' HQ Write A Short Story Festival is in April and you should definitely join us writershq.co.uk/festivals-ch... With @lindzmcleod.bsky.social @sarahkat.bsky.social @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social @aliceslat

Black Lawrence Press Open Call: AAPI Adoptee Poetry Anthology! We’re seeking work from AAPI Adoptee Poets for a collection of poems featuring emerging + established poets across the US. We are accepting submissions until June 1st, 2026. View full submission details at buff.ly/hHsojVj